From the Author

To fully grasp the emotional ride you are about to embark upon, the journey requires the image of the 2012 Dedacciai Assoluto bicycle in Gleaming red. It is as crucial to the book as the characters themselves. I pronounce the name (or possibly mispronounce it) as De-Dah’-Chi-Ay’,

according to a retired schoolteacher who helped spell that sound out for me. (Thanks, Alice) So why is this Dedacciai bicycle so important? They are not sold anywhere in the U.S.A. (as of this writing), and it took me years to find one overseas. It is also the bike I rode the day this story fell into my mind. I knew something weird had just happened as suddenly there was not just an idea for a book but the entire movie version of the book playing in my head. It felt so powerful that I pulled over to take the picture above to immortalize this strange occurrence. The photo was taken at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City in July 2016. OKC is where I was born and raised, and still reside in a suburb just north of the city.

Here’s the thing, I wasn't a writer, or at least I hadn’t written a book before. But the idea would not go away and gnawed at me day and night with the full-length movie version playing nonstop in my mind. The story was relentless and wanted to be fed, watered, and nurtured to life.

Three months later, with a little inspiration from Tony Robbins and his Personal Power II CD set, Robbins said the decisive words that encouraged me to script the story. I looked at the clock, which read 1:23 p.m., October 16 th , 2016. My decision was absolute and grabbed parchment and pen and I began to write.

Four years later, to the exact date and time, 1:23 p.m., October 16 th , 2020, my profound emotional journey hit my first tremendous writer’s milestone as I completed my first draft. I celebrated at The Cheesecake Factory with a piece of Oreo cheesecake. I was sitting by myself and crying from the completion of thousands of hours, countless all-nighters, and nearly a million words in writes and rewrites. All of it necessary to complete my EPIC first draft.

I was sixty years old, and I was joyous. However, the patrons at the Cheesecake Factory probably saw one of the saddest sights they had seen that day: a heavyset, sixty-year-old man sitting alone at the bar and crying on to his Oreo cheesecake. The final product is The Ride to Redemption, with a name that will make perfect sense once you finish the book.

For seven years, every ounce of my blood, sweat, and fears were poured onto these pages. Each word is intended to take you on a transformative and healing journey of redemption. I wrote the comedic attributes to help balance out the seriousness of the subject matter, hoping we can laugh at ourselves in a world where that seems lost. My hope is that I gave every ounce of what is important to me to you through wit and wisdom. Additionally, I hope the life lessons on these pages are of significant emotional value and something you can take with you.

Thank you for giving my words a chance to earn a place in your heart, mind, and bookcase. It is appreciated more than you could possibly imagine.

With sincere gratitude, debut author,

Rick Swyden